Chapter 59 #2
“Vermin?” He breathed. “Humanity is the only unnecessary vermin of this world. You kill and break and destroy far more than even demons do. You bring nothing of use to life and act superior for nothing more than your opposable thumbs.” He slammed a fist into the barrier.
It wavered for a moment before solidifying again.
“You think you are soldiers of Heaven?” He barked a laugh.
“I have seen real soldiers of Heaven, child. They would burn you where you stand. For nothing more than that you were in their way. The angels do not care for you. Your precious god does not care for you. For any of us.” He rounded on Dominick as he felt another strong tug on the bond in his mind. “Stop calling for him!”
How were they even doing that? Leviathan had left his blade, fine, that was his mistake for giving them something that had belonged to him. But he had made sure to take all of Cullen’s things when he’d taken him into his palace. There should have been nothing–
“You’re wondering how we did it, aren’t you?
” Walker asked quietly. “How we summoned Cullen after you stole all his things?” When Leviathan gave no response, Walker held up a tiny strip of red stained fabric.
“His blood.” He murmured. “Blood we only had because you dragged him through all that glass.” He shook his head.
“You think that’s love? What you’ve done to him? ”
Something hard and painful lanced through his chest.
His fault.
His fault…
“Love…” He breathed, rage flaring again.
His shadows swirled, prodding at all sides of the pentagram, searching for a way out.
The bond in his mind was tugging hard, Cullen’s voice coming down the invisible line, asking him where he was, what was wrong.
Leviathan merely snapped at him to stay away, to not answer the summoning no matter what, and focused on Walker again.
“You filthy humans are always throwing that word around. Like you know what it means. What it feels like.” He laughed, tensing as light flared, as it wrapped around the blade in Dominick’s hand to shield it from his power as it rose and moved towards the pentagram on its own.
Guided by heaven’s filthy, tainted power.
“It is my type of love that Cullen needed.” He continued quietly, ignoring the blade inching closer.
“It is the darkness and the depravity and the loyalty he needed. You wouldn’t understand a single thing about any of it.
You never loved him. You couldn’t have, even if you’d tried. His soul was always mine.”
Surprise and unease spread across the brat’s face, a slow flush growing there before it finally twisted with anger again. He turned to Dominick, ignoring Leviathan the same way Leviathan was ignoring Cullen’s now frantic screaming in his mind.
Don’t come. Leviathan ordered him, still refusing to answer any of his frantic questions. Whatever you do, Cullen, don’t come here.
Levi–
He shut him away. Shut him away so he wouldn’t start to feel the fear filling his chest.
Fear…
It had been so long since he’d felt it.
He hated it now. Hated the weakness it brought with it. But the knowledge that Cullen would be alone…would feel it happen before they forced him to come to this place, before they carved out his heart as well… It was terrifying.
Regret.
He had never felt regret before. Not even after the Fall. It was a far worse thing than fear.
I’m sorry. He kept the words to himself, fighting back the thickening in his throat. It’s my fault, Cullen. I’m sorry.
Perhaps there would be a next life. Perhaps they would find each other again. He tugged gently on the soul bond, a teasing, playful move, feeling his eyes watering as he closed them.
No point to dodge. Not when he was trapped like this. It would only make him look like a fool. And if Cullen came before he was gone, then he would have to watch…
He felt him trying, on the other side of the bond.
Felt him calling up his shadows to try to make a portal to come to him.
To follow the summons. He couldn’t deny the order from Heaven’s book.
His shadows would pull him here soon enough…
If only there was some way to throw them off, to make them bring Cullen outside of the pentagram…
“Any last words?” Dominick asked softly.
“Not for you.” He whispered, shooting a quick vision, an instruction down the bond. He felt Cullen get hit with it, as if he’d been pushed, and then snapped the bond closed before he could see more.
A terrible silence filled the space around them all. A heavy, thick thing that made his ears ring and his heart race.
The end…after all this time.
Of course. Right when he’d found happiness. True, unmarred happiness… He could have laughed if it weren’t so fucking heartbreaking.
He felt the pulse of shadows nearby and squeezed his eyes even tighter, refusing to let himself see, to know that Cullen had come, that he could have seen him so weak…
He heard a familiar voice cry out–and something sharp slammed into his chest.
He felt himself stumble backwards, felt the light wrapped around the blade surge through him and tear apart his soul–
And then there was nothing at all.